Sporadic/Random Static & Distortion ONLY When Recording

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S-Halo

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I record on a Vista 64-bit PC (with specs suitable for recording I assure you) using Audacity 1.3.12. My equipment list/setup is described at the end of this summary.

ABOUT THE PROBLEM
- Static isn't heard live via direct monitoring, only afterwards on the recorded track.
- To give you an idea, the static sounds like distortion from the audio level being too high (but all of my levels are indeed good) and the static is not random but flows with the audio wave/signal and is only present when there is actually an audio signal being produced, no static during silence.
- The static is not constant thank goodness, but a big inconvenience since it can't be detected in realtime and recording halted. To put it in numerical terms, I'll say I can record about 8-12 tracks on average before the next track has static. Then after the first appearance, static usually appears more frequently, and randomly...So I record 10 tracks, the 11th track has static, tracks 12-16 are clean, 17th has static, 18-21 clean, 22nd has static. Or it could be tracks 12-16 clean, 17-20 static, and then a back-and-forth tag game after that. Pretty unpredictable as you can see.
This does makes it seem Audacity seem suspect, as lots of tracks can slow it down....BUT, I never had static in the past with lots of tracks, and I currently can delete tracks to keep the track count down and the static still occurs. I haven't been able to test any other recording software yet.​
- The static isn't discreet. It appears whether I'm recording vocals or a line signal. Also, whether it's mono or stereo makes no difference.

RECORDING PRACTICES
I disable unecessary system programs/devices--networking adapter, factory soundcard, windows system sounds--however, my factory windows security programs stays on I just realized (never been an issue in the past). I don't have any additional security software (Norton, McAfee) installed though. No other programs are open during recording, just Audacity.
Audacity settings are mostly default other than a few, but are as follows: Host (the audio processor I guess) is MME - Buffer is 20ms - latency correction at -130ms - 24/96 sampling - realtime conversion with sample rate converter @ high quality sinc interpolation, with no dither - high quality conversion with converter @ high quality sinc interpolation, with shaped dither.

MY SETUP
Vista 64bit (plenty of memory and processing power)
Audacity 1.3.12
MOTU 828 mkII (using onboard ASIO drivers; firewire connected to PC; internal clock)
M-audio Nova condenser mic to MOTU xlr preamp
Yamaha keyboard to MOTU analog line-in
MicroKorg to MOTU analog line-in
Yamaha MS-10 monitors from MOTU line-outs
Cables in good shape. Yamaha and of course xlr cables are balanced. Korg cables and monitor cables unbalanced, but not over 10' in length. Wait, one monitor does have a balanced cable.

I think that pretty much covers it.
 
Can you post a sound file of the 'static'? Have you monitored the track when recording to see if you hear the noise at that point, or it introduced during processing/track saving/playback?
 
If you notice the first item under "ABOUT THE PROBLEM" in my original post though, I mention that static only appears on the recorded track, or processing as you put it. It's the raw data, immediately after recording stops, with no effects applied and no project file saves, that processes static along with the audio signal. No static can be heard via headphones or monitors during recording. For example, I'll record a keyboard track, using the monitors of course to hear what I'm playing, and everything will sound fine until I stop recording and hit "Play" to listen to the keyboard track that I just recorded only to hear static / distortion.....I will try to record and post a sample track by tomorrow though.
 
I read what you said - you said the static is not being heard with DIRECT MONITORING. I am asking if you monitor the track as it is recording do you hear the static?
Direct monitoring is listening to the input through your interface BEFORE it goes into the computer, I mean turn on the track monitor - ignore any latency, you're just trying to find when the problem happens in the process.

To check if its Audacity, download Reaper (it's free to try out) and see if you get the same problem.
 
Ah, I get what you're saying now. From what I can remember, turning on Audacity's track monitor (which did indeed have HORRIBLE latency LOL) did "produce" per se the static. But, that was over a year ago, and I have less than par memory, so I'm double checking while I create the sample audio this evening. Will snag Reaper demo too.
 
OOOOOKKKKKKKK. WOW......a whole new can of worms just opened up and it's got me 100x more lost than my initial problem. Before I get into the new crazy issue, let me just ask this.

If possible, could we move forward with troubleshooting each scenario of monitoring the track while it is playing: 1) static isn't heard, 2) static is heard? I assume the approach would be different based on the info you provided.


...........Alright........[exhales].......now the new problem. I switched to monitor track as its playing in Audacity using the software itself (not direct monitoring). Well, I couldn't even get ANY static to occur, and that was after like 80 tracks worth of trying. So I couldn't (can't, as you'll learn later) produce a sample track containing the sporadic static that inspired my original post. Now the fun part.....I figured I'd switch track monitoring off to attempt creating a setting under the conditions I normally record in. Well the static is gone, and was replaced with hideous monster hybrid of distortion I can't even describe in words, and this new distortion affects all audio, recording and playback, newly recorded (this evening) tracks and existing tracks (that have been in the project file for months). Every bit of audio gets screwed up in Audacity so that it's impossible to even use it now until the problem is resolved (meaning I can't reproduce the original static at all now). I will mention that the complete distortion only occurs in Audacity and, as you can hear in the sample audio, only the newly recorded tracks are trashed once audio is exported as an audio media (mp3) file. But this distortion sounds nothing like the random static/crackling distortion I was having trouble with originally.

AUDIO SAMPLE on SoundCloud: soundcloud dot com solitairethahalo/audio-sample/s-3Wt87
(It won't let me post an actual link. Says I need to have made 10 posts or more to post URLs, so simply delete the spaces and "dot")

FYI: the little, "2 second" blip, heard over the clean instrumental.....that's actually a recording of me saying: "Mic check, mic check 1, 2....Testing 1, 2, 3. Testing 1, 2, 3, 4. Mic check 1, 2. Mic check." Definitely a good 14 seconds worth of talking, distorted down to a short blip.
 
Well, sounds like you may have a software issue. You could try uninstalling Audacity and reinstall it. Try Reaper!
 
Yeah that's the only thing I could think to try to. Restarting my computer would be inconvenient at the moment though. But the software does seem to be the culprit. Fortunately, I'm busy working on the business side of music right now and don't have much recording planned until late spring or so. I was already planning to upgrade my software finally to a certified recording/production program such as Reaper. I had a good run with Audacity (really is a decent program for the $0 price tag) but I need pro software to match my pro hardware finally.

Thanks for the assistance, and for breaking my software LOL Seriously though, I for sure know that sometimes you have to dig in and screw something up even more to discover the real solution; in my case, reassuring me I need to upgrade--so the current destruction of my Audacity at the hands of your suggestion is fine by me.

Also, I know this is off topic somewhat, but since your helping me (before I do further research).....a friend told me they have Audition and I could have it if I wanted it. Thing is, it seems like I remember someone telling me most people don't take Audition seriously as pro software, compared to Pro Tools or Reaper which you seem to like....is Audition a quality program, do you know?
 
mjbphotos said:
....You could try uninstalling Audacity and reinstall it.....
Click to expand...

I've never understood people who just blindly think uninstalling and reinstalling a program or Windows solves a problem. I've paid $$$$$ to supposed 'techs' to do this, and finally I said enough is enough. Especially when it doesn't solve the problem, but I still get a bill. There something going on, and seriously, when you figure it out, you'll feel much smarter than many IT people I've met.
I would start with the computer. It's been said before, but shut off any unnecessary 'services'. I've had recordings interrupted by my antivirus program popping up and telling me virus definitions have been updated. :spank: I've had my f*cking printer pop up and tell me about updates. :spank:
Finally, I just said screw it, and have a dedicated recording computer. No Internet, no antivirus, absolutely nothing Norton, Windows updates have been shut off, anything that can interfere.
Now the software. Make sure you have the latest drivers, and yes, sometimes an older driver works better. Roll back if necessary. Try different buffer settings. Firewire seems to work better with a specific chip set, which escapes me right now, as I don't use Firewire. But a software or firmware setting or update may be the culprit, so reinstalling Audacity is just an exercise in futility. Trust me, I went through this with Cubase. I paid hundreds to techs to solve nothing, and after they reinstalled Windows for Christ's sake, I lost so much 'stuff'. Thanks for nothing.
No, it's not a simple solution. You may have try a combination of things. But in the end, you will get an education that is priceless.
 
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